His claim is that a demo will usually diminish whatever enthusiasm the customer had when he first learned about your game. He argues that if you give an interested customer no recourse but to buy your game, he will be more likely to do so.

He also shows a slide clearly showing how (on average) games with no demos will literally double the sales of games with demos.

So now I'm left wondering if I should even release (a completed) demo for our game.

I'd love to hear others opinions and experiences with demos and how they've affected sales.

I should mention that the plan for our game was to send out our press release along with a demo, and a new, snazzy trailer in the next week or so. Our game will be available on iOS for 3 dollars (I know, I know) and on PC for 10. I'd argue that a higher priced game should have a demo, but the games he referenced were Xbox live games which sell for a good chunk of change.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, if you have the chance, watch the whole video. He makes a lot of good observations on where this industry is headed.

Right. I would have never thought a demo could hurt. But listen to his argument. He starts talking about this at 8:42. and 10:36 at he pulls up the chart that clearly shows games with no demos outselling game with demos.

To be clear. I'm confident that most people will love the demo, and a good portion of them will buy the game, but my partner made a good point.

Imagine there's two cool looking games you wanna buy. The first one has a demo which you try and love. Now that second, enticing game you're excited about has no demo, but it looks so cool. Which one do you buy? You're still curious about that second one after all.

That's the speakers point. That initial curiosity will sit with the consumer until they get their hands on the game. Paid or otherwise.

And speaking for myself, I know 99 percent of the games I've owned were bought without playing the demo.

Imagine there's two cool looking games you wanna buy. The first one has a demo which you try and love. Now that second, enticing game you're excited about has no demo, but it looks so cool. Which one do you buy? You're still curious about that second one after all.

Couldn't you just buy both?

It's a more complicated matter though if, for whatever reason, you can only buy one. For me, I would buy the second game, especially if it looks good and the reviews are good. I wouldn't buy the first one as I would feel as if I've played the game before, and would prefer something new and different.

If you already have a good exposure, the demo is only a way for the player to not buy your game.

2 cases:
- One famous game with lot of press:
every potential player know about it and want to buy it. Some of them try the demo. If the player finally didn't found the game good he won't buy it.
So a demo will only be an excuse to not buy the game (boring, too violent, not pretty, too hard etc..).

- One unknow game:
A player see that there is a new demo available, the screenshot looks cool.
He try it and may or may not buy it.

What AAA game usually do:
They wait a few weeks/months that all player intended to buy the game, buy it. After that they release a demo to try to get player not convinced to buy the game yet.

If you already have a good exposure, the demo is only a way for the player to not buy your game.

2 cases:
- One famous game with lot of press:
every potential player know about it and want to buy it. Some of them try the demo. If the player finally didn't found the game good he won't buy it.
So a demo will only be an excuse to not buy the game (boring, too violent, not pretty, too hard etc..).

- One unknow game:
A player see that there is a new demo available, the screenshot looks cool.
He try it and may or may not buy it.

What AAA game usually do:
They wait a few weeks/months that all player intended to buy the game, buy it. After that they release a demo to try to get player not convinced to buy the game yet.

A demo is always better for the player. For the dev not always.

I think you got it perfectly. Our game is unknown as you can get, so I can't see a demo hurting us. Especially since the demo rocks.
Thanks

About Us

"TouchArcade covers the latest games and apps for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. We are the largest site dedicated
to iPhone and iPod Touch gaming."

Promotional Codes

While we now accept iTunes Promotional Codes for games, we can't guarantee that your app will be reviewed or covered. Only one promotion code is required. Feel free to send promo codes to tips@toucharcade.com.

While we appreciate the promo codes, notable app pre-announcements and preview copies are also of interest to our readers. Please feel free to contact us at the same email address about these opportunities.

Note: we rarely (if ever) solicit developers directly for promo codes. If you receive such an email, please contact us.

Advertising

We have advertising opportunities available to iPhone and iPod Touch developers. If interested, please contact us at ads@toucharcade.com.

Press Contact

We welcome news releases, previews, screenshots and video links for existing or upcoming iPhone and iPod Games. We can't promise a personal reply but we do try to evaluate every title submitted. Please send press releases or general inquiries to tips@toucharcade.com.